Professional milk received by the Minister of Agriculture – Le Figaro

VIDEO – While players in the dairy industry must come together around Stéphane Le Foll, many dairies are blocked in western countries

One crisis after another: after the meat is the turn of dairy professionals, producers, manufacturers and distributors to meet Friday morning around the Minister of Agriculture for s’ agree on a revaluation of course.

After a few months of improvement in 2014, milk prices have started to decline, depressed by an unfavorable global environment and four months after the release of European quotas, in place for more than thirty years, liter paid just over 30 cents to farmers is not enough to cover their expenses. “It is obvious that producers can not continue in the current state of things,” warned the president of their federation, FNPL, Thierry Roquefeuil after a preparatory meeting Thursday evening with Minister Stéphane Le Foll.

The farmers believe that an immediate increase from March to April cents “minimum” would allow them to offset the costs of production. “A lot of work” will be needed Friday found Mr Le Foll that awaits the commitment of all “beyond the distributors will require that rising prices could affect all” Has he said, although in this respect “nothing is quite simple because of a large mixed products” derived from milk – powder, butter etc. The Minister especially wants, by this reunion complete, “send a message to all dairy farmers” who are particularly mobilized earlier in the week in Normandy, their main production area.

Dairies blocked

To maintain the pressure, breeders also occupy this morning at least four dairies are blocked Friday morning in Vendée and the English Channel. In the Channel, dairies Lactalis in Isigny-le-Buat, Bongrain in Condé-sur-Vire and the Cotentin Masters dairy cooperative Sottevast blocked since Thursday evening, told AFP Sebastien Armand, president of the FDSEA department. “It only stops output of finished products,” said Armand, adding that farmers had established a “planning” to take turns on bottlenecks until Tuesday.

In Vendée, Eurial the dairy Belleville-sur-Vie is also blocked, said Joel Limouzin, president of the local FDSEA, adding that the duration of the movement depend on the outcome of the meeting in Paris from 10:00 between producers, manufacturers and milk distributors. “This is putting pressure to push processors to enter the principle of a revaluation of milk prices, as has been done for meat” after a meeting on June 17, he said. “We expect that industry take into consideration our expectations on the price of milk,” said Armand. He said the average selling price announced for 2015 does not exceed 300 euro per 1,000 liters against 365 in 2014, then he would need to sell it at 400 euros to enter its cost and pay equal pay a-half times the minimum wage, he said.

A call for Europe

Thierry Roquefeuil told AFP he insisted that the meeting held before the weekend, after a particularly turbulent sequence that has seen many routes to major cities blocked by tractors. Simultaneously, Mr Le Foll turned to Europe: after calling several of his counterparts whose countries are going through a similar crisis (Italy, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Luxembourg, State presiding the European Council), it requested and obtained Thursday convened a European Council of Agriculture Ministers in early September. France, he recalled, had called for a revaluation of the milk intervention price if tumble: “We have avoided the worst, but the revaluation has not occurred”

. But also the end of quotas, the Russian embargo on food products helped clog the European market, while Chinese demand growing since 2010, abruptly halved powdered milk. But French farmers refuse to feel the only hostages of the world market: “We can not say to the producers that they must evolve in a globalized world and keep typically French social or fiscal charges. In this case, we also want globalized expenses “defends Mr. Roquefeuil hope that a flattening” the set of burdens on farms. “

However the manager refuses to return different operators back to back: “It takes effort from distributors such as transformers and to a lesser extent, the consumer.” “We had such liquidity problems if 2014 has filled part of the deficit of the past, after six months, it has already fallen, especially younger and warn they will not take 20 years at this rate “says the head of the NPFL. On June 17, the beef industry in full force was convened round table under the auspices of the minister and had agreed on an increase in prices paid to producers. Which was only partially met by the mediator’s report presented Tuesday to the Minister.

(With AFP)